First batch of Apple

[xdodge]

I have two gallon jugs of apple that have been racked 3 times, they are a beautiful golden color but Crystal clear. last week I degauss them (with my vacuum pump) got lots of bubble out and then sweetened then with sugar water. They taste great I also added 1 candum per jug. Now it has been a week and I degaussed then again and still got lots of bubbles. My question is should I degauss them weekly till I get no more bubbles or just go ahead and bottle them ? It tasted so good that I am not sure if I can let the bottles sit for a year before we drink it.

Thanks
Allan

 

[Tom]

Depending on WHAT you are using to degas you can suck out the flavor. A member if my wine clud over did it and was left with no flavor.
How old is this?
More info..racking 3X means nothing as I rack every 2-3 months..
TASTE it if you taste nothing (spritz) then it may be OK.

 

[Minnesotamaker]

If your apple wine was finished fermenting, and then you added sugar water to it to sweeten it up a little, you'll likely start the fermentation again unless you treated it with potassium sorbate and potassium metabisulfite. If you didn't treat it with these TWO additives, I certainly wouldn't bottle it or you could end up with bottle bombs.

 

[xdodge]

This wine was started around Christmas, so I racked about every 30 days. I added 1 Campden tablet to each gallon, wont that stop any restart of fermentation ?

 

[Tom]

NO, you need Sorbate . What was the starting gravity.. what is it now? What was it when you added the campton? Do you have a hydrometer?

 

[xdodge]

OK, Started wine 1 Dec.
I kind of messed up ( it was my first try at wine) I only wrote down my SG after I had added sugar....SG 1070, but added sugar water 3 more times over the next 30 days when the SG would drop to around 1010 or so, if i figured right my alcohol should be around 12%. The SG was at 1000 last week when I sweetened it, didnt take another reading because i figured it was done working. I keep the wine at a temp of 50. I guess i could take a reading and wait a week and see if it changes. Can I still add soybate after I sweeten?

 

[Tom]

You may have a mess. Temp is VERY important and @ 50 its super low. This can be why you had a problem fermenting. Still not sure why you added more sugar. You may have to rack this up to a failed 1st batch. Best to ck here or read up on winemaking before you start another batch. Adding sorbate may not do much at this point.

 

[xdodge]

I added more sugar to get the alcohol level up, while it was fermenting it was in a temp controlled box kept at about 75 deg. It was moved to the cellar after it was done working.

 

[valdelocc]

I'm yet to degas a batch,racking takes care of degassing,when the wine clears ,the airlock stops burping and the water levels in both sides(S-Shape),I back sweeten if needed, add potmeta and let it seat for a month or so before bottling,I've been making wine for over ten years, don't use Sorbate and haven't had no problems with re-fermentations .I strive to keep the chemicals to a minimum and the wine as natural as possible. Making wine at home is all about cleanliness and patience.